Pair of disc earrings

Pair of disc earrings 
Produced in Vulci
Late 6th century BC
Gold

The gold disc is decorated with filigree and granulation; at its centre are eight flowers arranged around a large rosette, also made of sheet gold, with a spherical, granulated pistil.

On the back, a small cylindrical pin with a perforated tip is preserved, by which the earring was attached to the ear.

Disc earrings derive from Greco-Oriental fashion and, between the second half of the 6th and the early 5th century BCE, became widespread in Etruria, as attested in Archaic-period depictions in the painted tombs of Tarquinia, in the relief cippi of Chiusi, and in antefixes and figured pottery.

They could be worn directly on the ear or attached to headdresses. Examples of this type are found mainly in central-southern Etruria, and their production has been tentatively attributed to Vulci.